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Pirlo's late goal helps Juventus beat Genoa 1-0

Published on NewsOK
Modified: March 16, 2014 at 5:25 pm •
Published: March 16, 2014

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MILAN (AP) — Andrea Pirlo's late goal saw Juventus maintain its charge to a third successive Serie A title as it beat Genoa 1-0 on Sunday to extend its lead to 17 points.

Juventus' Andrea Pirlo scores during a Serie A soccer match between Genoa and Juventus, at Genoa's Luigi Ferraris Stadium, Italy, Sunday, March 16, 2014. A late Andrea Pirlo goal saw Juventus maintain its charge to a third successive Serie A title as it beat Genoa 1-0 on Sunday to extend its lead to 17 points. Pirlo fired home a stunning free kick two minutes from time as Juventus struggled to a victory after Gianluigi Buffon had saved Emanuele Calaio's penalty for Genoa. (AP Photo/Tano Pecoraro)

Pirlo fired home a free kick two minutes from time as Juventus struggled to a victory after Gianluigi Buffon had saved Emanuele Calaio's penalty for Genoa.

Roma, which hosts Udinese on Monday, has two games in hand on Antonio Conte's men.

Lazio won 2-0 at Catania while Atalanta eased to a 3-0 win over Sampdoria.

Juventus striker Pablo Osvaldo had two goals ruled out for tight offside decisions in a fiery first half.

Genoa had the best chance to break the deadlock when it was awarded a penalty in the 71st minute after Arturo Vidal had handled in the area, but Buffon dove smartly to his left to deny Calaio. It was a fitting way to mark Buffon's 476th appearance for Juventus, which matches legendary goalkeeper Dino Zoff's tally.

And Juventus stole all three points when Pirlo curled a trademark free kick into the top left corner.

Fiorentina ended a run of four games without a win as Chievo wasted a number of chances.

It took the lead when Juan Guillermo Cuadrado passed to David Pizarro, then raced into the area to volley the return ball into the back of the net.

Alessandro Matri doubled Fiorentina's advantage after some great work by Anderson and, although Alberto Paloschi grabbed one back for Chievo, Mario Gomez sealed the result with his first league goal since returning from a lengthy spell out with injury.